Cannes opens 79th festival in France

A film festival opening is partly about movies and partly about signaling. Cannes did both on Tuesday, May 12 — kicking off its 79th edition at the Palais des Festivals with Park Chan-wook leading the main jury, Pierre Salvadori’s *La Vénus électrique* (*The Electric Kiss*) as the opening-night film, and Peter Jackson getting an honorary Palme d’Or from Elijah Wood. But the real story is the split screen. Onstage, it was glamour, French comedy, and industry self-celebration. Offstage, everyone was talking about AI, missing Hollywood studios, and what Cannes is trying to be in 2026. (festival-cannes.com) ### What actually opened Cannes? The ceremony opened the 12-day festival, which runs from May 12 to May 23, with 22 films in the main competition for the Palme d’Or. Park Chan-wook — the South Korean director behind *Oldboy* and *Decision to Leave* — is this year’s jury president, the first Korean filmmaker to hold that role. The official opening film was Salvadori’s *La Vénus électrique*, a French period comedy set in 1920s Paris. (festival-cannes.com) ### Why does the opening film matter? Because Cannes uses opening night as a statement of tone. *The Electric Kiss* is not a grim geopolitical provocation or a giant Hollywood launch. It’s a French, out-of-competition opener from a local auteur, with a theatrical release in France the same day — very Cannes, basically. That choice tells you the festival wanted elegance, wit, and a homegrown start rather than a louder global headline. (festival-cannes.com) ### Why was Peter Jackson onstage? Jackson got one of the festival’s honorary Palmes, and Elijah Wood presented it. That moment did two jobs at once. It honored a director whose career was boosted early by Cannes, and it injected a bit of global movie-star electricity into a lineup that’s lighter on major U.S. studio presence than some recent editions. Jackson even pointed back to 2001, when bringing *The Lord of the Rings* footage to Cannes helped shift industry expectations around the film. (hollywoodreporter.com) ### Who’s shaping the competition? The nine-person jury is a pretty eclectic mix — Demi Moore, Chloé Zhao, Stellan Skarsgård, Ruth Negga, Isaach De Bankolé, Laura Wandel, Diego Céspedes, and Paul Laverty alongside Park. That matters because Cannes juries are part awards body, part cultural weather vane. This one blends Hollywood visibility with arthouse credibility, which suggests the festival wants broad legitimacy even in a year when the American studio machine feels less central on the Croisette. (festival-cannes.com) ### So why is everyone talking about AI? Because the loudest argument at Cannes this year is not really about one movie. It’s about labor and authorship. Thierry Frémaux has been openly hostile to the way AI is reshaping film work — especially for dubbing artists, translators, writers, and performers. He even floated the idea of labeling films as made “without artificial intelligence,” almost like an organic-food tag for cinema. That’s the kind of backstage anxiety that can define a festival mood even when the red carpet looks carefree. (france24.com) ### And what’s with the missing Hollywood studios? That’s the other gap. Cannes still has stars, but some of the usual studio muscle — Disney, Warner and the rest — is less visible this year. So the festival is leaning harder on international auteurs, prestige premieres, repertory programming, and symbolic moments like the Jackson tribute. Turns out that makes the event feel a little more like an old-school world-cinema summit and a little less like a transatlantic content marketplace. (france24.com) ### Is the lineup political or not? Both, in a way. The official opening itself leaned upbeat and ceremonial. But the competition slate is still packed with heavyweight directors from across Europe and Asia, and last year’s Palme went to Jafar Panahi’s overtly political *It Was Just an Accident*. So Cannes hasn’t suddenly become apolitical — it just chose not to make opening night a direct confrontation with the world’s crises. The politics are still there, just displaced into the selection and the industry debate around AI. (festival-cannes.com) ### Bottom line? Cannes opened as Cannes usually wants to open — glamorous, self-mythologizing, and movie-mad. But the 2026 version also feels defensive. The festival still has prestige, stars, and a global platform. The question hanging over the next 12 days is whether that’s enough when the business around cinema is changing faster than the ceremony can admit. (festival-cannes.com)